Chapter Six

Six Weeks Later

Dr. Kreiger placed Maria on a light but healthy diet and removed the bedrest restriction she'd been placed under in favor of a regimen of light exercise. Maria distrusted the Nazi doctor, but his plan seemed to work; her health returned, and the baby flourished. Under Dr. Kreiger's care, she regained the weight she'd lost plus five additional pounds, and her normally flat stomach was beginning to round with maternity.

Maria had not heard from Georg again since he left for his deployment, and she had not gotten a letter from him since that time either. Still, they were at war, and Maria considered no word at all a good sign. It meant her husband was still alive and had not been injured or harmed.

The autumn days slipped towards winter, and Christmas holidays were fast approaching. It would not be the merriest of Christmases for the family with the Captain gone, but Maria vowed that she would make it as happy as possible.

One week before Christmas, Maria gathered the children together in the salon to select names for the Secret Santa gifts. It would be easier than having each child by a gift for every sibling, especially with the events going on in the town, the fewer trips into Salzburg they had to make the better.

"What are we doing, Mother?" Marta asked when all the children except Friedrich were gathered in the salon.

"We're drawing out Secret Santa names," replied Maria. "Each of us will pick a name and buy a gift for the person whose name you picked. There are only three rules, you cannot pick yourself, you cannot tell whose name you picked, and you cannot give a gift that is or at one time was alive," Maria cheerfully explained with a look at Louisa, as she passed around her old straw hat filled with little slips of paper.

"Mother," Gretel asked, "Is Father coming home for Christmas?"

The forlorn look in the little girls eyes made Maria's heart ache, "I don't know, Gretel. I hope so, but I doubt it. He's fighting, my little one. Wars don't always stop just because it's Christmas."

"They did once," Kurt piped up. "I remember Father telling us about it. It was when he was in the Great War. He heard about some English and German soldiers that called a Christmas truce, they talked to each other, gave one another gifts. If it could happen then, it could happen again."

Even with Kurt's enthusiasm at the memory of a cherished story, the mood of the room changed from festive to pensive.

Six long, sad faces now stared at Maria. In her own heart, she wanted Georg home. She missed him, she needed to feel him, and needed him to see her beginning to round out with their child. She felt if he saw that he would fight even harder to make sure he came home to stay as soon as he possibly was able.

"Well, all we can do is hope and pray your father can be with us for Christmas. Being sad isn't going to make him arrive, and we need to think about how upset he would be if he knew that you children were feeling down at Christmas time. We don't want that, now do we?"

The children shook their heads, they wanted to always see their father as happy as he had been just before he and Maria got married, it had held some wonderful memories for them.

"How about we sing some songs and help get us in a Christmas mood. What would you like to sing?"

Six voices all suggested different tunes, each having their own favorite. Maria heart Brigitta suggest "Deck the Halls".

"I think we shall begin with "Deck the Hall"," Maria said. She had an idea.

Maria began the song, leading the children in harmony until the second chorus of fa la la la, then she broke off and started to sing the sounds to the tune of the "William Tell Overture", the third cycle she changed to "Beetoven's Fifth", for the fourth it was the "Blue Danube" waltz, and finally the "1812 Overture."

All the children were laughing when Maria stomped her feet to imitate the cannon fire that was often included with the song. By the last chord and the mood seemed to have lifted for the time being. A quick glance at the clock told Maria and the children it was time for bed.

"Goodnight, Darlings," she replied hugging them all as she sent them on their way. "Kurt, I need to speak to your brother for a moment before you go up to get ready for bed. See Frau Schmidt for a glass of milk, will you please. No cookies."

Fredrich lay up in his room listening to the joyous singing coming from downstairs. What did they have to be joyous about? Father was out in the war fighting, Maria was having a baby, adding another member to the already too large family. He did not see any of those things as reasons to be glad.

Finally, the music stopped, and Frederic could hear the familiar sounds of his siblings going up to bed. Kurt, the sniveling little brat, would be up soon, humming some stupid folk song. When the bedroom door opened however, it wasn't Kurt who was on the other side, it was Maria.

"Friedrich," she began, standing in the doorway, her pregnancy more obvious in her silhouette than in her actual frame."We missed you downstairs. We're not much without our tenor." She tried to smile.

"I don't like singing. Singing is for girls," Friedrich snapped.

"Your brother sings with us. And your father..." Maria remembered Georg's gentle, deep voice. Even the memory of it gave her goosebumps.

"Yeah," Fredrich retorted. "But Kurt is a sissy and Father is a coward!"

Maria's face grew dark with anger. "How dare you!" she hissed, the immediate flare of anger intense. "Your brother may be younger than you, but he is still a member of this family and deserves your respect. Your Father, God bless him, is doing what he is doing for this family. It takes courage to sacrifice yourself as he had done, to abandon your principles and convictions for your loved ones."

"If that's true, then he's also a traitor," Fredrich countered. "I should let Lieutenant Brandonberg know about this."

Maria struggled to keep her temper under control. Never had she wanted to strike on of Georg's children, one of her children, as she did now. Since Georg left and Friedrich assimilated himself into the Hitler Youth, as was required for all young men of his age, he'd become very difficult to deal with, but his words and attitude now were simply too harsh for Maria to overlook.

"Friedrich, you're father and I want you to have your own ideas, be your own person, but Darling, the Nazis are not our friends, they are not helping Germany or Austria, they are only hurting people. They're lying to us, you must see that," Maria implored her eldest son to see what she saw, what his siblings saw, but all that registered in his cold eyes was distrust, distrust and another emotion Maria was afraid to name.

"They aren't lying," Friedrich almost shouted. How dare she say such a thing. What the Nazis were doing was just and good. They were helping people recover the money they had lost in the global depression. They were making it so more people could have businesses. They were making things normal. "You're the liar."

Maria fought tears at his words, breathing deeply, "I'm not Friedrich, and someday, I know you'll realize that." With that, she left the room, tears now streaming down her cheeks. Friedrich's words were like a knife to the heart. If Georg saw this…now Maria almost wished Georg didn't come home for Christmas. The pain of seeing what had become of his son would be intolerable for him. He would blame himself and his choices, she didn't want that for him.

Somewhere in the Adriatic Sea

The Captain marked another day off his calendar. December 18, 1938; one week until Christmas and six weeks since he'd last seen his beloved Maria and family. Thankfully, this reconnaissance mission was nearly completed and with luck he would be granted a shore leave for the holidays.

Each day he prayed Dr. Kreiger's plan had worked, and that Maria and the baby were fine. He prayed all his children were happy and healthy. He especially prayed for Friedrich, so that his eldest son might see his way through these confusing times. How he longed to be there to help him.

Each night Georg held a meeting with his men about the assignments for the following day. Usually, he had a good crew; responsive, trustworthy, especially one young sailor, Johannes Schreiner. Today, though, the Captain noticed Johannes was very sullen. After the meeting broke, the Captain called out to him.

"Schreiner," he called, and the young sailor jumped. "I want to see you in my quarters."

The young sailor looked sick as he followed the Captain to his private quarters aboard the submarine. "Yes, Sir?"

"Have a seat, Sailor," the Captain invited. "Would you care for a drink?"

"No, Sir. Sir, did I do something wrong?" Schreiner asked.

"No, no. Not at all," the Captain assured him. "In fact, you are one of the most promising young men aboard this submarine. But, lately you seem a bit distracted, even preoccupied and I was wondering why that might be?"

Schreiner was surprised at the Captain's demeanor. The seasoned Captain had a reputation of being a cold, detached leader, but this man seemed almost paternal.

"No, Sir. It's just I miss my bride, Sir. It's almost Christmas, and well, it's starting to sting a bit. She's expecting our first child," the young man said proudly.

"I understand, Son. I'm a newly married man myself, my Maria, is expecting our first baby too," the Captain told him. "I know how much it hurts, but you have to stay on top of things, that's the only chance any of us have to make it through this thing. Understand?" the Captain asked.

"Yes, Sir," Schreiner nodded. "Thank you, Sir."

"Of course, Sailor. You need to talk about them, come see me, sometimes reminiscing keeps you from missing them too much."

"Thank you, Sir," the young man smiled and rose with the Captain. The young sailor snapped a quick salute as the Captain commanded, "Dismissed."

On December 23, 1938, the Captain's submarine surfaced and docked at Bremerhaven Naval Base. He was greeted when he left his boat by Admiral von Schriever.

"Captain, we've heard the reports. Excellent work, really excellent work," the Admiral praised. "You are a wonderful asset to the Navy and an honor to your uniform."

"Thank you, Admiral, Sir," the Captain replied blushing at the praise in spite of himself.

"You've earned your title, Captain, and your leave. Enjoy the holidays with your family."

If it wouldn't be ungentlemanly and totally out of his carefully constructed professional character, Georg would have jumped for joy. It has been over 20 years since he had to spend a Christmas at sea and he didn't relish the thought of doing so with Maria pregnant and the house full of growing children. This was a gift, one of the greatest gifts of all.